Cushman launches website for tech startups

Cushman & Wakefield will announce the launch of C&W TechBeat, a new website that will serve as a tool for technology startups by offering the latest information, reports and trends on the Manhattan commercial real estate market.

A map of the U.S. highlighting high-tech employment in 2013 with New York recording about 450,000 employees.

One local real estate firm is looking to help tech startups unravel the mystery of how to get going in New York City's difficult market for office space.

On Monday, Cushman & Wakefield will launch a new website called C&W TechBeat, an online tool aimed at providing local tech startups with up-to-date data and statistics on Silicon Alley’s commercial real estate scene. By providing entrepreneurs with the latest information, reports and tech-related trends on the Manhattan market, Cushman & Wakefield is hoping to help startups solve industry-related issues like affordability and broadband access.

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According to Mr. Katcher, the idea of a live site that offers information and advice tailored to the city’s growing tech community was a way of meeting the industry where it lives: on the Internet and in real time.

"A live webpage is better than some report," he told Crain's. "Especially for this sector. TechBeat is designed to present high level topics that would be of interest to these specific clients."

Those topics cover a wide range, with everything from current Silicon Alley listings to a detailed chart of how startups grow in New York City. That chart in particular provides a window into Cushman & Wakefield’s plans for the growth of New York’s tech sector.

By splitting startups into five phases and showing an evolution from an idea backed by angel investors with less than 10 employees to a tech firm with more than 3,000 employees and billions of dollars in revenue, TechBeat lays out a trajectory that many are attempting, but no local startup has yet achieved.

Mr. Katcher claims that his company is merely showing the inevitable pattern that strategic growth can achieve along Silicon Alley, and smart real estate decisions are the first step. "We’re in such an early stage here compared to Silicon Valley," he said. "Over time, you’re going to see tech companies of enormous size in New York City. We need to embrace this sector."